Flaming Gnome Studios
Flaming Gnome Studios is an independent moviemaking company based out of Owatonna, Minnesota. It is best known for the short film series Vail ''and feature film ''The Elixir Of Doom. '' History 2006: Prehistory The name "Flaming Gnome Studios" was first coined in 2006 by Ryan Huang and Jordan Johnson during their fifth grade year at St. Mary's School in Owatonna. The duo produced multiple comic strips in their math notebooks during class, signing each strip ''"by the Flaming Gnomes." ''Current director Ryan Huang describes the subject matter of these comics: "As I recall, the story centered around a nameless hero who navigated through a side-scrolling environment filled with monsters and deadly traps. It was all quite frivolous." No comics from this era are known to survive, as most were confiscated by teachers and/or lost over the years. 2009: Golden Age of Comics After a 4 year hiatus, the studio resumed production of comics. The work environment was new--comics were produced in the German 1 classroom of Owatonna High School. Again, the principle writers and illustrators were Huang and Johnson, along with D.J Chatelaine and Don Zheng serving as a small consulting team. A more extensive and detailed plot had been formed. The comic had two primary protagonists: Captain Combover, a suave and skilled agent/superhero and his partner, Furm. The basic premise of the series centered around the duo thwarting the plots of Don, the communist antagonist. All three characters directly portrayed Huang, Johnson, and Zheng, respectively. Although production had been greatly increased during this period (at least 4 episodes were made), only one comic from this series has survived: ''Episode 2: In The Communist Lunchroom. '' Comic-writing operations ceased once again in 2010--this time for good. Collaboration between Huang and Johnson drew to a close along with the end of 1st semester. Huang was now solely left in charge of Flaming Gnome Studios, and would continue to see the company through its venture into the fillmmaking industry. 2010-2011: Entry into filmmaking The earliest recorded instance of any moviemaking involving Flaming Gnome Studios was in the winter of 2010. This film, ''Gettysburg, was in fact a school project directed and produced by D.J Chatelaine's own film company. Huang appeared as various characters in the ensemble cast consisting of Chatelaine, Eric Schlicker, and Nash Dushek. The documentary, along with its raw footage, remains in the collection of D.J Chatelaine Productions. Upon the acquisition of iMovie, the studio's first filmmaking software, Huang filmed a short trailer that would propel the company into the industry. The short film starred Huang, Braden Stork, and Pranshu Parmar as three unnamed agents wreaking havoc in an enemy base. The movie was filmed on location at Owatonna High School and edited in Taipei, Taiwan by Huang later that year. Initially titled Captain Ryan's Crew, ''it was revised as ''Men With Guns ''shortly afterwards. In the early summer of 2011, Huang proceeded to begin work on a full-length script featuring the characters from the trailer. This was to be the largest and most ambitious project in Flaming Gnome history to date: the cast consisted of Huang, Stork, Parmar, Zheng, Chatelaine, and Preston Smith. The first filming sessions were less than organized, as Huang describes: "For the first few days we had no script whatsoever, and made do with ad-libbing the entire thing." The result was a series of takes that were dramatically different, and Huang decided to scrap all of them. (These clips, previously thought to be lost, have been recovered and re-released by the studio.) Later that summer, though, the first scenes from the script had finally been finished. Full costume was used for the first time, along with weapon props and sound effects. Again, filming did not go as planned and production ground to a halt. The final blow occured when Stork moved away to Rochester, Minnesota, making it impossible to continue any further. Very few clips from this footage survive, with the rest of the raw footage lost in cyberspace. The project was abandoned, but a new and even more ambitious series would soon take its place. 2011: the ''Vail ''series Huang recalls, "I believe the first inspiration [for ''Vail] was Viktor Boroshlav's accent, which had been ever-present in my household as a running joke. The second inspiration came from my role in Once In A Lifetime, my first high school play." Vail: Episode 1 ''was written and shot by Huang in the summer of 2011. The latter assumed every single position in the filmmaking process--director, writer, cinematographer, cameraman, editor, and all three roles in the cast. The movie debuted two iconic characters: Captain Levi Vail and Viktor Boroshlav. Episode 1 was initially intended by to be a one-off film, ending with the death of Boroshlav (at that time the principle antagonist). Upon receiving positive audience feedback regarding Boroshlav, Huang changed his mind and set out to continue the series with Boroshlav as a main protagonist. ''Vail: Episode 2 ''was filmed and premiered shortly after its predecessor that same year. Numerous short films starring the main characters were also filmed during this time, spurring two spinoffs: ''Birthday E-cards From Vail and Boroshlav ''and the ''Ambush: Boroshlav ''series. 2012: ''The Elixir of Doom The studio temporarily put the Vail ''series on hold in early 2012, after scheduling complications prevented ''Episode 3 ''from being filmed. However, after viewing the 2011 silent movie ''The Artist, Huang was inspired to begin a new series--this time involving a much larger cast and crew. The film was to pay homage to The Artist, ''as well as Edgar Allan Poe's short story ''The Cask of Amontillado. ''The script was written in the first week of July of 2012, and filming was finished one week later. New and old faces had been added to the Flaming Gnome Studio roster. Joshua Dub and Maureen Gleason accepted lead roles as Jean Montresor and Emmanuelle Chanson, respectively. D.J Chatelaine rejoined the company in the role of Emile De Grave. The days of a one-man crew were over--Miles and Michael Mulet were invited to handle cinematography for the filming. Huang himself starred as Viktor Boroshlav once again (in the first ever cross over between series in the studio's history), and also directed and edited the 25-minute film. Shortly after the August premiere of ''Elixir, Huang announced a sequel (titled The Root of Evil) with a target release date of Fall 2013. 2012-Present: The Root of Evil Production of the sequel to The Elixir of Doom ''is currently underway. Huang announced that the film would be distinctly different from anything ever produced before by the studio, "larger in scope and with a dramatically different tone." Stage actors Thomas Donlon and Jillian Stout are rumored to have leading roles as the new antagonists of the story, with the rest of the cast reprising their original roles. Studio Library ''*note: only projects that are currently accounted for and within studio vaults are listed. This section may be updated as new works are discovered. Comics *''In The Communist Lunchroom'' (2009) Documentaries *''Gettysburg (2009) Short Films *''Captain Ryan's Crew--trailer ''(2010) *''Men with Guns: Mission 1 ''(2011) *''Vail-- Episode 1: Forgotten Names ''(2011) *''Birthday E-cards from Vail and Boroshlav ''(2011) *''Vail-- Episode 2: The Crimes of Yesteryear ''(2011) *''Vail-- Episode 2.5: Ambush at Portofino ''(2011) *''Ambush: Boroshlav--Ambush at Huntington Harbor ''(2012) Feature Films *''Men With Guns ''(2011) --scrapped *The Elixir of Doom'' (2012) *''The Root of Evil (2013) Miscellanious *''Vail: The Special Interviews ''(2011) *''Men With Guns: Secret Footage ''(2012) Personnel Past *'Jordan Johnson (2006-2009)'--comic writer/illustrator *'Don Zheng (2009-2011)'--comic consultant, cast *'Braden Stork (2011)'--cast *'Preston Smith (2011)'--cameraman Current *'Ryan Huang (2006- )'--President, director, writer, cast, editor *'D.J Chatelaine (2010- )'--cast *'Joshua Dub (2012- )'--cast *'Maureen Gleason (2012- )'--cast *'Thomas Donlon (2013- )'--cast *'Jillian Stout (2013- )'--cast *'Eric Schlicker (2013- )'--cast *'Albert Rysavy (2013- )'--cast *'Jacob Hellevik (2013- )'--cast *'Luke Owens (2013- )'--cast *'Jackie Warehime (2013- )'--cast *'Maria Versteeg (2013- )'--cast *'Haaken Bungum (2013- )'--cast *'Joseph Nelson (2013- )'--cast *'Miles Mulet (2012- )'--cameraman, cinematographer, cast *'Michael Mulet (2012- )'--cameraman, cinematographer *'Pranshu Parmar (2010-2011, 2013- )'--production assistant, cast *'Al & Lydia Huang (2012- )'''--producers Trailers